Atlanta Hawks game thread: Morrow out, Stevenson questionable (updated)
Vivlamore reporting from Washington, D.C.
UPDATE: Anthony Morrow will not play against the Wizards as he continues to experience soreness in his back. “We are going to rest him tonight due to the soreness in his back,” coach Larry Drew said. “We’ll take the extra precautionary measures.”
I asked Drew if the loss of Morrow would tempt him to play DeShawn Stevenson, whom he would like to rest for tomorrow’s game against the Thunder. Stevenson will dress. “In terms of the game plan of (Stevenson) playing or not playing, I was hoping (Morrow) would be able to play. So, we’ll just see how the game goes.”
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The Hawks will go with a starting lineup of Jeff Teague, Devin Harris, Kyle Korver, Josh Smith and Al Horford against the Wizards tonight.
There are two reasons for the unit, according to coach Larry Drew.
With a game at home against Oklahoma City tomorrow, Drew may not play DeShawn Stevenson. The veteran swingman and defensive stalwart does not play in back-to-back games and Drew would likely rather have him against the Thunder. By not starting Stevenson, Drew can monitor whether he needs to use him.
“There is a possibility that we will limit his minutes,” Drew said. “There is a possibility he will not play. We will make that decision right before game time.”
Drew also likes the lineup for matchup reasons.
“We have two guys who really push the basketball,” Drew said. “Kyle gets up and down the floor and is a spot-up guy. I think our matchups are pretty good with both Jeff and Devin. They are not very big at the 3 so we can go a little smaller.”
* Drew said the status of guard Anthony Morrow would be a game-time decision. Morrow, who has been suffering from a sore back, went through the team shoot-around Tuesday. Drew said he was still experiencing some soreness.
* The Hawks enter the game having won 17 of the past 18 games against the Wizards, including both games this season. Drew is wary that his team does not take the Wizards lightly.
“They are a very physical team with Nene, (Emeka) Okafor and (Kevin) Seraphin,” Drew said. “They have guys who can score the ball. … They are a very capable ball club. The last thing you can do is come into a game like this and underestimate this team. Forget the record. You have to go out and play this team with a sense of urgency. That is going to be the message tonight.”
Chris Vivlamore
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390 comments Add your comment
keith
December 18th, 2012
9:43 pm
Josh-Al–Jeff = Mo…Larry and Curly
Slimjr
December 18th, 2012
9:44 pm
Al aint blocking that Center!!!
Great BLOCK JOSH on the BIG NeNe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
5 blocks for Josh..
Shop Al. lol
Sautee
December 18th, 2012
9:44 pm
keith, do you still think Korver (and not Josh) is the team MVP?
SOS Hawks
December 18th, 2012
9:44 pm
Good job korver. At least mr air ball josh did not have a chance to shoot
Hawks_4_Life
December 18th, 2012
9:44 pm
BALL GAME
Najeh Davenpoop
December 18th, 2012
9:44 pm
Al had an awful night scoring the ball but still managed to rack up 11 boards and 6 dimes. Props to him for finding a way to help out my fantasy basketball team.
keith
December 18th, 2012
9:45 pm
Mo, Larry, and Curly,,,almost lost it for us tonight!!!!
Sautee
December 18th, 2012
9:45 pm
Closer than it should have been.
Blast
December 18th, 2012
9:45 pm
Tough game, tough win. Wizs might be bottom feeders, but there record does not show how good they can be. Hawks will attest to that.
SOS Hawks
December 18th, 2012
9:46 pm
Josh. Stick with blocks and jams. Do not shoot any more than 3 ft out
Najeh Davenpoop
December 18th, 2012
9:46 pm
Glad to see them win, but hopefully they have enough juice in the tank to avoid embarrassing themselves against the Thunder tomorrow night.
Slimjr
December 18th, 2012
9:46 pm
If Al continues playing the 4, expect him to avg 5-7 assists per night..
keith
December 18th, 2012
9:46 pm
Sautee
December 18th, 2012
9:44 pm
Lou Williams is TRUELY the team MVP,,,No Doubt…
Slimjr
December 18th, 2012
9:47 pm
3-19 people..
Up next the 20-4 Thunder!
Duluth Joe
December 18th, 2012
9:49 pm
Josh plays a lil defense, lol, if not for Josh, this game is over
High-sider
December 18th, 2012
9:49 pm
Per 36 Minutes:
Jamal Crawford – 4.8 FTA/game; 0.937
Lou Williams – 5.4 FTA/game; 0.875
Jamal Crawford is currently shooting 6.2% more accurately from the FT line than Lou Williams. I’ll take Crawford; I know I’m biased. [LOL]
Slimjr
December 18th, 2012
9:50 pm
17,13, and 5 for Allstar Josh!
Melvin
December 18th, 2012
9:50 pm
Take the win and get the hell out of there….
SOS Hawks
December 18th, 2012
9:51 pm
Mr Airball. Never shoot unless its a jam.
drmaryb.(""_*).
December 18th, 2012
9:53 pm
Passer in Chief!
A. HORFORD #15 C 44:05 2-11 0-0 1-2 +8 1 10 11 6 2 1 1 1 3 5
Slimjr
December 18th, 2012
9:54 pm
Josh gets to share the game ball with Sweet Lou!
Up next? Brutal
keith
December 18th, 2012
9:55 pm
We need more effort from our front court night-in and night-out… Just not assertive enough for me…
doc
December 18th, 2012
9:56 pm
lou saves game but folks trash him?
if it were jc1 there would be genuflection at his alter.
way to hang guys.
keith
December 18th, 2012
9:57 pm
Al Horford could have been arrested tonight… Why….you say??? Stealing money from ASG, Joe Johnson type stealing!!!!!!!!
doc
December 18th, 2012
9:58 pm
good follow up game for josh after the egg he laid against gs.
Luke Cage
December 18th, 2012
9:59 pm
Hawks win, who cares who gets “Top Billing”, lets get ready for OKC
Luke Cage
December 18th, 2012
10:00 pm
What more can I say, Top Billing – MC Milk
High-sider
December 18th, 2012
10:01 pm
Najeh Davenpoop,
We’re talkin’ a difference of 0.6 FTA/game – less than one FTA/game. Where’s the [big] significance? It all basically washes/cancels itself out because Crawford is currently a better FT shooter than Lou Williams.
Slimjr
December 18th, 2012
10:02 pm
Teague get your azz in the Gym and fix that jumper ASAP!
That 8-12 footer is there anytime you want it!
Slimjr
December 18th, 2012
10:03 pm
AllStar All had 5 points??
What a lousy stat against a scrub front line..
High-sider
December 18th, 2012
10:04 pm
doc
December 18th, 2012
9:56 pm
lou saves game but folks trash him?
if it were jc1 there would be genuflection at his alter.
way to hang guys.
———————————————————–
I know you’re talkin’ about me. [LOL]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genuflection
Slimjr
December 18th, 2012
10:04 pm
He puts up 5 tomorrow night they lose by 15
Jesse
December 18th, 2012
10:04 pm
Lou can finish a game. Joe Johnson could not. Lou drives to the hole. Draws fouls. Makes his FTs. And he’s a lot cheaper. I’d take Lou over JJ any day. I know JJ can play, but for his price tag he never earned it. Lou is a steal.
Sautee
December 18th, 2012
10:04 pm
Scrub front line slim? I thought Nene was a beast.
Slimjr
December 18th, 2012
10:06 pm
I thought Al was an Allstar….
Najeh Davenpoop
December 18th, 2012
10:08 pm
“We’re talkin’ a difference of 0.6 FTA/game – less than one FTA/game. Where’s the [big] significance? It all basically washes/cancels itself out because Crawford is currently a better FT shooter than Lou Williams.”
Over his career, Lou has been significantly better at getting to the line. Lou averages 6 FTA/game for his career; Jamal is at 3.9. Jamal has averaged over 5 FTA/game once in his career; Lou has been over 6 FTA/game in two of the last three seasons. So far this year, the difference hasn’t been as pronounced, but over their careers, Lou has been significantly better in that department.
Regardless, I liked Jamal as a Hawk, and I’m not going to go overboard arguing for Lou over Jamal. I just think Lou is a better fit for this particular Hawks team because nobody else on this team gets to the free throw line consistently.
Sautee
December 18th, 2012
10:09 pm
…not tonight, but looking at a bigger sample size, he’s had a good season so far. We can’t judge Josh on just his bad night either. Both have played well this year.
Najeh Davenpoop
December 18th, 2012
10:10 pm
I quoted the right numbers, but in the previous post I meant to say FTA/36 mins, not FTA/game.
Slimjr
December 18th, 2012
10:12 pm
Golden St.much > then the Wizards
Hmmmmmmm
Luke Cage
December 18th, 2012
10:13 pm
Al is an All Star, as is Josh.
Al had a bad game scoring but had 12rbs & 6ast.